Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an implant implanted into a bone and, more particularly, to a drug delivery implant implanted into a bone at a designated position to directly inject a drug into a corresponding region.
Description of the Related Art
In general, a Drug Delivery System (DDS) relates to technology which minimizes conventional side effects of medicine and maximizes the effects of the medicine so as to effectively deliver a necessary amount of the medicine to a target region, and such a DDS is used to eliminate discomfort caused by oral or parenteral administration of medicine.
For example, when an anti-inflammatory analgesic drug is administered orally in order to treat arthritis, if the drug acts on a joint, the drug shows remedial effect at the joint but may show side effects, such as ulcers, in other regions, in particular, the stomach or intestines, and the DDS means a method or a system which reduces such side effects and maximizes the effects of the drug.
In addition, researches into an effective treatment with reduced patient discomfort by introducing new methods into the delivery paths and delivery types of drugs in consideration of unique physicochemical properties and pharmacokinetic properties of treatments or the drugs are now underway.
However, in the case of a patient with a chronic disease requiring continuous drug administration for long periods of time, oral administration of drugs is most common but it may be difficult for the patient to regularly take the drugs for a long period of time, even if drug formations are excellent. Such a difficulty serves as a factor obstructing treatment of chronic disease and suppression of deterioration of the chronic disease, and further causes considerable loss in terms of individual health and national economy due to leftover drugs.
In order to treat diabetes, which is a representative chronic disease, an insulin pump has been developed now and obtained excellent results in which continuous drug administration and maintenance of a drug concentration are achieved, but causes pain and fear due to use of an injection syringe and movement restriction in daily life.
In addition, hypertension medicines, Parkinson's disease medicines, and contraceptive pills need to be administered regularly for long periods of time and, if a patient does not take medicines on time, his/her health may deteriorate or desired efficacy of the medicines may not be acquired.
Recently, a bionic implant implanted into a bone, which is referred to as a drug injection implant or a drug delivery implant, has been developed and drug administration may be carried out via a drug delivery implant fixed to a bone of a designated region.